Colleague- possible charity scammer

[Johnny Doe]

Not hi-viz enough I'd get into trouble

If you want to crack the case, you have to take risks! What sort of maverick detective are you?

 

[Supine]

Aren't most charity collections done online these days. Ask to see her collections page as you want to pay online.

 

[Johnny Doe]

Are you Facebook friends with her? Can you smoke her out with thinly veiled accusatory status updates?

 

[D'wards]

She said that to you?

To my colleague

 

[friedaweed]

I bet it's her that's got my large pizza pan

 

[Johnny Doe]

To my colleague

Did you witness it?

 

[kebabking]

I'd be very tempted to discuss it with a reasonably senior manager within your office: that is, after all, their job - to manage stuff...

Collecting for charity and then keeping the money is Fraud, a serious criminal offence, and if she has used your departmental facilities - work email, time, premises etc.. to attempt to legitimise her activities, then that would be Gross Misconduct. For a civil servant that would be immediate dismissal...

I think you'd be unlikely to get much from the charities involved - what one person chooses to donate, whether on other people's behalf or not, is no business of anyone else, and unless you're in a position to represent your department officially, they would be very unlikely to tell you what donations have been received in your offices name.

Personally I don't understand the reluctance get involved - assuming it's genuine belief that money given to charity has been stolen then there is no moral problem with asking the appropriate authorities to investigate. If she's innocent then the investigation will last 10 minutes and she'll be exonerated, and your department will put in place rule regarding collections to ensure the same thing doesn't happen again - I'm surprised they don't, we do - if on the other hand she's been lifting several thousand a year from your colleagues pockets, then why would anyone object when she gets sacked and potentially prosecuted...?

 

[Nivag]

If it's the civil service then she's scaming on tax payers time.
Like others have said, do your own charity collection then make a song and dance the amount and the receipt/thank you letter when you get it. It may make a few others pipe up they haven't seen that before.

Otherwise an anonymous letter to her boss or HR with your concerns or explain to management saying all these charity collections at work are getting expensive and can we just have some more centralised ones to make it feel less personal to say no.

Does she offer a Just Giving to make donations?

 

[Thimble Queen]

To my colleague

So it's hearsay, then?

 

[D'wards]

Did you witness it?

Hearsay, as Alexander O'Neal highlighted in the 80s.

It's rife though, rife , this sort of thing.

How can you be sure where ‘charity’ donations go?

 

[Johnny Doe]

So it's hearsay, then?

Pure And Simple

 

[alex_]

Aren't most charity collections done online these days. Ask to see her collections page as you want to pay online.

Offer to setup a donation page for her, so that she “doesn’t have the hassle of handling cash” and people can give gift aid.

Alex

 

[Thimble Queen]

Pure And Simple

Not very klassy though, is it.

 

[Johnny Doe]

Touché

 

[bellaozzydog]

At least she is not on a jaunt to katmandu or a sponsored skydive like the rest of the "adventure charity" types who finance their weird proclivities by dragging money off family friends and acquaintances

ANYWAYS People who regularly "take" stuff that isn't theirs are thieves, the scale of the taking is unimportant but likely to rise with every missed opportunity to smash their hands in a door

 

[Johnny Doe]

Dress up as Pudsey bear, break into her house during night, gaffer tape her to a chair and scream 'Pudsey wants his fucking money, you wouldn't like him when he's angry' at her until she confesses

 

[DotCommunist]

Hire a PI to follow her round with his car and a gopro on the dashboard + stalk social media/bins etc. That way if there is anything untoward you'll find out- suspiciously luxurious purchases or weekends in aspen.

 

[Pickman's model]

Stitch her up like a kipper

 

[Johnny Doe]

Dress up as Pudsey bear, break into her house during night, gaffer tape her to a chair and scream 'Pudsey wants his fucking money, you wouldn't like him when he's angry' at her until she confesses

Or recreate the 'Respect the bear' scene from Phone Shop
Google Image Result for https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CUSBfeqWUAADyh0.png

 

[Johnny Doe]

Hire a PI to follow her round with his car and a gopro on the dashboard + stalk social media/bins etc. That way if there is anything untoward you'll find out- suspiciously luxurious purchases or weekends in aspen.

Loudly exclaim,, 'love that blouse Sandra, is it new? Looks expensive!' every day when she comes in the office

 

[Johnny Doe]

'Tesco finest that sandwich? Someone's doing well!'

 

[cybershot]

Shouldn't your company be responsible for overseeing any money collected? Do you have a finance person?

This. One would think the organisation would have something in their policies to govern charity donations and collections.

Is she doing it on behalf of the company? If no. Then personally I wouldn’t give her any money.

A lot of organisations will also match or add a percentage to the charity drive assuming they support it and are behind donations being collected from staff.

Also don’t you have to collect people’s details in order to ‘gift aid’ the donation these days?

If you don’t want to hand over cash directly ask her for her online fundraising page so you can donate by card and also gift aid correctly.

BBC Children in Need - Online fundraising - BBC

 

[Johnny Doe]

Don't forget to make 'bunny ears' around the word "charity" whenever you talk about her

 

[Johnny Doe]

Put her forward for some tabloid sponsored Pride of Wherever award for her relentless fundraising. The truth will out in the glare of the camera

 

[friedaweed]

Stitch her up like a kipper

Or just burn her like a Mexican organ snatcher

 

[Johnny Doe]

Put her forward for some tabloid sponsored Pride of Wherever award for her relentless fundraising. The truth will out in the glare of the camera

In fact start with a short letter of praise to a local paper and build up to this. Enjoy her dilemma as the level of attention cranks up to national and she wrestles with the awful truth nearing revelation

 

[shakespearegirl]

When I worked at BBC, there were loads of Red Nose Day and other charity events run by staff, these weren’t part of any BBC official fundraising. It was mainly things like cake sales, sports events and competitions. We always got a manager to check and verify the donations and a week or so later there would always be a poster up saying what had been donated, which dept had raised the most money, so on. Very odd if she’s not showing anything she’s received from charities.
If you can get management to issue a policy on fundraising in the workplace everyone will be clear on how donations are managed

 

[Johnny Doe]

'Your hair looks fabulous Sandra, must have cost a pretty penny?'

 

[Pickman's model]

See what she's drinking in the pub at a work do and if it's Stella go 'ah, reassuringly expensive'

 

[D'wards]

When I worked at BBC, there were loads of Red Nose Day and other charity events run by staff, these weren’t part of any BBC official fundraising. It was mainly things like cake sales, sports events and competitions. We always got a manager to check and verify the donations and a week or so later there would always be a poster up saying what had been donated, which dept had raised the most money, so on. Very odd if she’s not showing anything she’s received from charities.
If you can get management to issue a policy on fundraising in the workplace everyone will be clear on how donations are managed

This is a good idea. I'll have a quiet word with someone higher up.
Without swearing, it will be a shit or bust type situation. It'll force her hand either way.
And if she produces the proof then her donations will go up as a result, cos everyone near her is suspicious now.
If she still doesn't then we'll know and put her in a huge wicker man in the car park